6 hours Ago
BUFFALO, N.Y. — For years now the town of Amherst has been struggling to figure out what to do with the former Westwood Country Club property on Sheridan and North Forest.
Now there is an Erie County plan to reuse it as a small golf course and public park. But there are questions from GOP politicians and the public on how that plan came to be. RELATED: Amherst Central Park plans are moving forward Westwood used to include a country club golf course.
However, now it's also a political football in this town supervisor election year. Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz used his driver to emphasize this plan, with town Democratic and county leaders looking on, for the county Parks Department to take it over. That calls for about $7 million in county funding to recreate a nine-hole golf course, along with a "passive recreation space" with walking trails, playground, and a food truck-vendor area.
Of course, this property sat vacant for over a decade with the town bonding out $7 million to get it. There have been various plans through the years under previous Democratic and Republican town supervisors. Some suggested it should be a central town park or even a $238 million mixed residential development.
They were also dealing with low level brownfield concerns because of arsenic used as a landscaping fertilizer. The Republican-endorsed town supervisor candidate, Dan Gagliardo, said the public should have been involved during a year of planning for this concept. He also feels now there should be a referendum instead of just turning town property over to the county.
Gagliardo claims he knows of two unnamed private equity firms that might be interested. So we'll tee up both sides. Poloncarz said: "Amherst residents will be very pleased because there will be no massive development on the site.
That's something that we know they were very opposed to. We listened to them and came up with a solution to the site that brings people together while preserving and maintaining natural, outdoor recreation space. This is a win for the whole county, as the supervisor said, because it fills a need and a niche in our parks department (as the only county park in Amherst).
" Then on Wednesday afternoon Gagliardo told reporters: "This has been going on for one year. We'd like to know why we're finding out about it today. We'd also like to know whether we're going to be paid back our $7.
8 million that we bonded for this property. And are we here today to just give up complete home rule to the county? Unfortunately, I don't think this is the proper course of action. We ought to have a simple platform.
That platform is this: Let's put this on a referendum. Let the Amherst town residents be part of this." The Erie County Legislature must approve this plan, as it involves spending at least $7 million or more in county funding.
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